Change will come, as it has to. The only real question is how? Will it herald a new order or disastrous disorder? What we see already with mass migration, which has assumed prominence even in recent months, is a clear indication of the challenges we face.

What has all this got to do with mediation? Well, as it seems to me, everything, not least because all of these considerations are what we mediators learn and work with already in our day-to-day practices.

So what should we do about any of this? I suggest that the only real question is what are we going to do about it? If we accept that these issues present really significant risks (and they don’t need to be certainties, just very significant risks), what will we, as mediators, do?

The trouble could be that most of us think that, out there, other people or some other thing, will deal with all of this. It’s not for us, we say. They/it will do what needs to be done.

Really? Speaking frankly, what is that if not abdication? Denial? Even delusion? “It’s not happening.” Or “it’s not happening to us.” Or “it’s not for us to stick our heads up and do anything.” “They will do it…after all, it is their problem. They created it.…” Really?

If not us, who? If not us, what? If not us, how?

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